


Stay Frosty

by ghostiprince



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-09 00:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7780537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostiprince/pseuds/ghostiprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coming into college with a clean slate has its pros and cons, as Jupiter has figured out. On one hand he can reinvent himself if need be and none of his old bullies can bother him. On the other hand he has no friends and will have to make some. Jupiter is optimistic and determined to do his best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay Frosty

**Author's Note:**

> This is an au with my ocs lol.

This year would be a new beginning for Jupiter, at least that was the plan. Fresh out of high school and he planned to attend University of Grand that fall. No one from Merlin Private High School was going to attend that university, which meant none of Jupiter's friends would be walking this next step in life with him, but that also meant that none of his bullies would be following him. With the promise of a clean slate and a positive outlook, Jupiter greeted the gates of the university he would be studying at for the next four years.

  
By the luck of the draw, Jupiter had gotten into all of his classes without any issues. For the first semester he had decided on taking French for beginners, introductory biology, political science 101, and general physical education. While he wasn't too interesting in any of these classes, sans French, he felt compelled to take them due to the pressure from his accomplished older siblings. His older sister, Ula, was an up and coming surgeon, and his older brother, Percival, was a well renowned lawyer. Not to mention Jupiter's parents were also very accomplished in their own right. His mother was part of the frontier of scientists doing research to help the environment, and his father was the head of a large corporation.

  
Tightening his grip on the black canvas backpack containing his single pencil and one subject spiral notebook, Jupiter wandered down the sidewalk, trying to navigate to his first class. His schedule had him awake and in class by 9am, which wasn't a problem since he tended to be an early riser. The issue was that his last class ended at 9pm and he commuted, but couldn't drive yet, so he would need either Ula or Percival to pick him up; that is if they were able to or he would be stranded. Jupiter didn't blame them, they were busy people with demanding jobs. He only wished he could drive on his own. He had his permit but had failed his license test twice already. To be fair, both times he hadn't been able to sleep the night before; stress and his nightmares kept him awake and on edge.

  
Finding his lecture hall, Jupiter peeked in through the doorway. A few people were seated, but it was mostly empty, granted he was ten minutes early. Avoiding the front two rows in favor of the third to last row of desks, Jupiter sat down and pulled out his dinky school supplies. In comparison every other student in the room had on their desk a copy of the biology textbook and a notebook with at least three subjects. Leaning back in the plastic chair, Jupiter tucked a stray lock of orange behind his ear and pulled out his shiny new touch screen phone. He had already decked it out with a whole slew of adorable stickers and a transparent phone case. Unlocking the phone, Jupiter clicked on contacts and was met with an empty address book. Then it hit him that he had completely forgotten to add the contacts from his old flip phone. In hindsight he could have done it this morning when he had woken up two hours early due to throwing himself out of bed, curtsy of a particularly bad nightmare.

  
Tugging at his bottom lip, Jupiter tried to drag the ten digit phone number for his best friend out of the recesses of his memory. Five minutes later the only thing that struck him was the area code and that in itself wasn't much of a win since it was the same as his home phone. By now most of the class had arrived, so Jupiter pocketed his phone and pondered on the number while class began. Gradually his attention slipped and he began fiddling with the hem of his grey t-shirt. Pulling on the loose threads, he found some form of entertainment in watching the hemming completely unravel. Once the entire hem was pulled apart, he moved onto ripping out the denim threads of the rips in his jeans. With his kneecaps completely exposed, Jupiter packed up his things to go find his next class, political science 101.

  
Making friends wouldn't be a challenge for Jupiter. He had always been the most outgoing and social person in his class, though it would be easier if he were living in the dorms on campus. Being a commuter didn't allow him 24 hour access to the other on campus residents, but he would make due. The political science class was a short walk across the grass and up a flight of stairs. The class was significantly smaller than Jupiter's previous class, and maybe had twenty people in total. Most people had already arrived, so only a few seats were left to choose from. Sliding into a seat in the back by a rowdy group of students, Jupiter sighed and pulled out his note taking materials. It wasn't his first choice of seating but he had already walked past all the open seats in the front and was too nervous to walk back to claim one.

  
As class began, the person closest to Jupiter leaned over and asked to borrow a pen and a sheet of paper. The stranger had short black hair and piercing eyes that reminded Jupiter of a feral cat. For a moment he stared back in awe that someone could be so unprepared on the first day of class, but then Jupiter remembered his own school supply predicament.

  
"Sorry, but I just have this one pencil." He flashed his single mechanical pencil but offered a page from his notebook. The cat eyed stranger graciously took the page with a smile, thanked Jupiter then turned to the person sitting next to him to ask for a writing utensil. A pen wad handed off without much fuss and class went without another interruption. Between scratching out the professor's words and flipping to new pages to fill out, Jupiter found himself stealing glances at the student who had given the cat eyed classmate a pen. He was tall—at least taller than the cat eyed classmate—with long ashy hair tied up in a ponytail, and Jupiter just had to steal another glance before class ended.

  
"Thanks for the paper. My name's Gingerbread Kiefer." The cat eyed student flashed a grin Jupiter's way before pointing towards his taller friend. "This is Gala—"

  
"Daggerfield," finished Gala with a raised brow at both Gingerbread and Jupiter, as if asking why he needed to be introduced or even included in the conversation. Despite the less than enthusiastic addition by Gala, Jupiter put on a smile and gave his own name. Once again he was thanked for the paper before a short nod from Gala signified that the pair were leaving, and so Gala started towards the door leaving Gingerbread to jog to catch up. Now Jupiter wasn't going to let this chance slip by him, and shoved his notebook into his bag before running to catch up to the pair. Falling into step with them, Jupiter figured he had stepped in at the tail end of a conversation since all he noticed was Gingerbread's pleading look and Gala's unwavering silence. Taking note of the new addition to their walking group, Gala side eyed Jupiter, but Gingerbread let him into their conversation without missing a beat.

"C'mon! I even got Sangani to go," pleaded Gingerbread with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could give. Realizing he wouldn't be able to convince Gala this way, he switched tactics and turned to Jupiter. "Hey! Jupiter, was it? Wanna go to this party on Thursday night? It'll be tons of fun!"

Jupiter, not about to pass up an offer to socialize, grinned and said he would be there even if it killed him. Laughing off the exaggeration, he turned his gaze to Gala, who still had that cold look in his eyes and an unchanging expression. The trio then walked in silence across the campus, Gingerbread giving Gala time to answer and Jupiter too anxious to say anything. As they walk through the doors to the outside, Gala stuffs his hands into his jean pockets and offhandedly says he'll go, before turning the corner and walking in another direction. Gingerbread jumps for joy and gives Jupiter a playful grin.

"Wanna exchange numbers? It'll be easier than waiting to meet in poli sci every few days." He held out his cellphone for Jupiter to type in. After clicking in his ten digit phone number and handing back the phone, Jupiter said he was heading off to his next class. Waving goodbye to Gingerbread, he trotted back to the main cluster of buildings.  
The next class went by in a haze and not long after, when Jupiter was getting a banana blueberry smoothie at one of the shops on campus, he received a text with a date and time from an unknown number, obviously Gingerbread. With smoothie in one hand and his other adding Gingerbread's contact, Jupiter was left awkwardly swaying in front of the glass doors leading outside. Eventually a small girl with strawberry blonde hair helped him with the door and coincidentally she helped him with all the other doors leading to his next classroom. Shrugging off the coincidence, Jupiter thanked her and went to sit in the front. Shortly after she took the seat next to him and he felt the need to introduce himself.

"Thanks, again, for earlier. I'm Jupiter," he held out his hand, "and you are?"

She smiled and gave his hand a firm shake. "Rio. It's nice to meet you, Jupiter. Now I won't have to call you guy with a smoothie."

They laughed for a while, then started chatting about their schedules and majors. Jupiter commended Rio on her double major, computer programming and bioinformatics, with a minor in French. It amazed Jupiter how some people could be so decisive this early on in their college career since he sure as hell wasn't even close to figuring out what he would even consider majoring in. She smiled and reassured Jupiter that he still had some time to think of his major. A few more minutes till class began and Jupiter was invested in the small talk he had started just to thank Rio and pass the time. During class he snuck glances Rio's way and when they had to do pair work they teamed up. Despite her being soft spoken, her French was smooth with few flaws, while Jupiter's was elementary at best. It was only day one, and the class was dismissed early.

Catching up to Rio in the hall, Jupiter asked if she wanted to get a snack together. He needed something to hold him over before his brother picked him up. Getting a tighter grip on the book in her hand, Rio nodded and the pair headed to the common area. Jupiter got another banana blueberry smoothie and a chocolate muffin. The first floor of the common area was surprisingly packed, so they ended up searching for seating on the second floor. Snagging an empty booth by a window, Jupiter slid in and Rio set down her slice of mushroom pizza across from him. Leaning back into the vinyl, Jupiter picked at the muffin wrapper.

"I'm still in shock at how many classes you're taking! How did you manage to fit them all into your schedule?"

Rio shrugged and bit off the end of her pizza. "It just happened to work out." She eyed his smoothie and asked, "Is banana blueberry your favorite smoothie flavor or..?"  
Jupiter nodded. "Do you have a favorite smoothie flavor?"

"Not particularly, but I do like the mango flavor."

He nodded and let the conversation die, unable to think of a good connecting topic so he focused on his bad habit of picking apart his muffin. After eating half of it Jupiter folded up the rest of the pieces in the wrapper and balled that up. The pause in conversation gave Jupiter time to check his phone for any messages from Percival; so far, none.

"—what do you want for dinner?"

Glancing up from his cell towards the voice, Jupiter's soft brown eyes met piercing green and he took a sharp intake of air. Putting down his cell, Jupiter took in the appearance of the stranger, unable to pull his gaze away. Soft silver hair was slicked backed with the ends tickling the collar of a pastel stripped button up. This was the second time in one day that Jupiter gawked at a stranger, albeit this time was nowhere near as subtle as the first.

"Ravioli," replied Rio, before introducing Jupiter to the newcomer. She gestured back and forth. "This is my younger sibling, Silicene. Sil, this is Jupiter."

Snapping back to the present introduction, Jupiter slipped on a smile and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you!"

Silicene eyed the extended hand—"Pleasure to meet you as well—" but didn't return the gesture.

Silicene then nodded and turned to leave, bidding a short goodbye. Jupiter was frozen with his hand extended, reeling a little from how he had just been treated. Eventually his posture slackened and he raised an eyebrow at Rio.

"Did he just...?"

"Sorry about him. He isn't much for physical contact. Try not to take it personally."

Jupiter almost laughed at that. Almost. To stay composed he opted to bite the smoothie straw. It was unbelievable to Jupiter that he could be treated like that by a stranger after putting his best forward and have it brushed off so easily. With a sigh he ceased chewing on the plastic straw and sucked out the last of the smoothie. A few minutes later he put down his cell and apologized to Rio for getting so worked up over something unnecessary.

"It's okay—"

An alarm blared and Jupiter's arm shot out at his phone. His brother was calling him, and he raised his hand to apologize to Rio for picking it up while she was speaking. They had agreed on Percival texting Jupiter when he had arrived so the sudden call had surprised him. The immediate commanding tone of his brother's voice from the receiver had Jupiter reduced to humming at different pitches to indicate 'yes' or 'no' answers. Ending the call, Jupiter shoved his phone into the recesses of the back pocket of his jeans.

"Sorry. Gotta dash. It was fun. Let's have a chat again some other time!"

"Don't worry about it. I need to head out soon too."

"Well, see ya." Jupiter flashed a smile then flung his backpack over his shoulder and jogged to where his ride was waiting for him.

  
After sliding into the passenger seat and unceremoniously tossing his backpack into the backseat, Jupiter plugged in his headphones and turned to gaze out the car window.

"Why'd you have to call me? I thought you'd at least text me first." Irritation laced his tone, his mood was still frazzled by meeting Silicene, but no way would he admit that the meeting still got to him.

"I did. You just didn't respond."

His eyebrows knitted together and Jupiter flipped through his cellphone notifications. Shit. Percival had texted him a few times. This was most likely when he had met Silicene and had fumed about the entire encounter. The irritation melted from his voice and he tried to apologize, but he was cut off—

"I'm very busy. Next time be more aware."

The drive home was uncomfortable. As soon as the car was put in park Jupiter ripped off the seatbelt and grabbed his bag, attempting to get inside and away as quick as possible. Successfully reaching his room without being stopped, Jupiter collapsed on his bed. He reached into his bedside nightstand, pulling out his old phone and searching through the contacts for the one he was looking for. Elis Abel. Copying the information into his new phone, Jupiter turned off his old phone and sent a text to his best friend.  
Minutes later his phone buzzed with a response that read, 'What do you want?' A smile cracked on Jupiter's face at just how much like Elis the message was. He really did miss seeing Elis every day. It was a shame—practically criminal—that they both chose different universities to attend. Jupiter would have loved to bother Elis for another four years. He typed back, 'To talk to you and your lovely personality.'

"Jupiter!"

Looking at the door, he tossed his phone onto his pillow and headed downstairs. It was his turn to set the table, and he thanked Ula for calling him. Once the three siblings got seated the questions started flying out of Ula's mouth. She wanted to know every single detail from Jupiter's first day. He shrugged and gave her the overview. There wasn't much to say, or much that he wanted to say.

"Even though it was the first day you should have been more prepared. You have notebooks with more subjects and more than just a pencil," interrupted Percival.

"Yeah, but it was the first day, so cut me some slack. Besides I didn't sleep well..."

Jupiter's defense went practically ignored by his brother, whose stern look never faltered. The lack of sleep was getting to him, so before he could snap anymore Jupiter took his plate to the sink to excuse himself. He knew where Percival was coming from and why Ula didn't break in to defend him, but Jupiter was, in all honesty, near the end of his rope.

"Whatever. I'll be better prepared tomorrow. Goodnight."

Childishly stomping upstairs, he closed his door and flopped into bed. Checking his phone for a message from Elis, he wasn't surprised to find none. Sending a text asking what Elis was up to, Jupiter locked his phone and replaced it on his nightstand. He flipped over onto his side and dozed off.

Bright flashes accompanied by buzzing had Jupiter reaching out for his phone. He slid his thumb across the touch screen, briefly noting the time—2 in the morning. Having to squint at the bright screen made reading the message difficult but even before finishing half the text, Jupiter had swung his legs over the edge of his bed and blindly groped for his sneakers. He was invited by Gingerbread to an impromptu drive, and after the conversation at dinner Jupiter's only thought was to get the hell out of the house. He just wanted to have a good time and forget about having to meet expectations, even if it was only for a few hours. Creeping down the stairs from his room and grabbing his keys on the way, Jupiter softly shut the front door then texted Gingerbread where to meet him.


End file.
